Jeff Immelt, the Chief Executive of GE, and Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute, co-wrote an opinion piece that appeared in the Financial Times yesterday. They mentioned that 3 years ago they decided to start on a quest for what they called “the challenge to develop clean energy.” In 3 short years, various parts of American society have shown courage on such a quest. Universities, entrepreneurs, inventors, businesses, government, and normal citizens have all put America on the path toward achieving such a quest. Given the progress made thus far, America must have the courage to continue investing and moving towards a clean energy future. Immelt and Lash both support President Obama’s bold energy vision and stress the importance of not wavering in from that vision even under the current financial crisis and economic downturn. In fact, they argue that it is even more important to invest now for long term growth. Only with a concerted and broad approach to energy independence will America maintain its edge in technological innovation, lead the clean energy revolution, and emerge from the current recession as a world leader on these issues. While the whole article is worth reading, the main points are as follows:

1) Declare American open for business and invest quickly.
2) Invest fairly.
3) Invest to ensure future value.